From 1 January 2009, accident towing in Victoria is regulated by the Accident Towing Services Act 2007 and Accident Towing Services Regulations 2008.
The Accident Towing Services Act 2007 replaces a range of tow truck provisions in the Transport Act 1983 and makes changes to the regulation of the towing industry, which will have positive effects for the industry and the public.
However, the majority of tow truck provisions found in the Transport Act 1983 remain substantially unchanged in the new legislation, but they are in a more modern, clearer and streamlined form.
The changed laws will facilitate the delivery of higher levels of customer service, improve road safety, and relieve traffic congestion on the state-wide road network.
The Act can be viewed and downloaded in pdf or word file format from the Victorian Government Law Today website. Search for Accident Towing Services Act 2007 using the search function on the website.
The Act only applies to accident towing and related services. It does not apply to trade (i.e. breakdown) towing, which was deregulated on 1 January 2009.
The purpose of deregulating trade towing is to reduce the administrative burden on trade towing businesses.
The key changes to the trade towing industry are:
- Operators are not required to hold a trade towing licence.
- Trade towing registration plates are being phased out. This means that operators no longer need to have ‘TT’ number plates on their trade tow truck(s).
- New trade tow trucks will be issued with standard registration plates, not TT plates
- Drivers are not required to complete, or to have the customer sign, an Authority to Tow.
- Business hours are not regulated under the new laws.
Importantly, it is illegal to use a trade tow truck service to provide accident towing services anywhere in Victoria. Heavy penalties apply to any business that tows a crash-damaged vehicle from an accident scene unless the tow truck has TOW or HTT plates - an accident scene extends for two kilometres from the site of the crash.